He reinstated the "global gag rule," barring federal funding of international family planning organizations that offer abortion services, sent a message of support to activists at the recent March for Life rally in Washington and nominated a stalwart abortion opponent, John Ashcroft, to be the nation's top cop. And in the process, the big guns tut-tut, he has thumbed his nose at public opinion.

Or has he? There are some signs that foes of abortion have quietly gained ground in recent years. In September 1995, a Gallup poll found that 56 percent of Americans described themselves as "pro-choice," compared with 33 percent who identified themselves as "pro-life." Responding to the same question in October 2000, 47 percent identified themselves as "pro-choice," while 45 percent identified themselves as "pro-life."

Perhaps more important, the newest generation of voters seems less inclined to be as reflexively pro-abortion rights as their predecessors. The same Gallup survey showed that 40 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds believe access to abortion should be further restricted. The proportion who felt this way was smaller for every other age group. This, of course, could just represent the extremes of youth: The survey also found that 23 percent of 18-to-29-year-olds want to loosen existing abortion restrictions, the highest percentage of any age group.

In a survey completed by UCLA's Higher Education Research Institute in 1999, approximately 52.7 of the nation's incoming college freshmen said they believed abortion should be legal. Though that proportion is consistent with the 50.9 percent rate in 1998, it's a substantial drop from the 64.9 percent pro-choice rate in 1990, at the end of the Reagan-era "culture wars" that abortion rights groups generally claimed victory in.

If these small changes bloom into a trend, it will be bad news for a movement that has traditionally relied on the energetic support of the young. What explains this erosion of support among the reproductive rights crowd?

One possible culprit: bossy boomers. Amy Richards, coauthor of "Manifesta," a book about the generational dynamics of feminism, thinks the answer lies with the abortion rights movement's baby boomer leaders being unwilling to share power. "The anti-choice people have included young people in their movement," she says. "The pro-choice side just hasn't done that."

The abortion rights movement, according to Richards, 31, is stuck in a time warp in which baby boomers continue to dominate the organizational power structure. As both an activist and a writer for Ms. magazine, Richards says, she previously attended many movement meetings where she was the only person in her 20s.

When younger activists are present, Richards says, it's often as tokens. "Frequently, what you'll get is older women sitting across the table from young people and asking, 'How can we reach out to youth?'" Then, "the attitude is like, 'That's a very nice suggestion. Now go get my coffee.'"

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